US Secretary of Treasury: US Failure to Pay Debts Could Spur Global Finance Crisis

United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (AP)
United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (AP)
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US Secretary of Treasury: US Failure to Pay Debts Could Spur Global Finance Crisis

United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (AP)
United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen (AP)

United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen warned on Friday that Washington could spur a global financial crisis and undermine the role of the dollar if it fails to pay its debts.

The US government hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit on Thursday, a figure that reflects money already spent by the government.

Yellen has informed congressional leaders that her department had begun using extraordinary cash management measures to stave off default until early June, Reuters reported.

Yellen said in an interview with CNN that a potential US default could damage the global economy.

“It could cause a global financial crisis. It would certainly undermine the role of the dollar as a reserve currency that is used in transactions all over the world,” she said, adding that in such a scenario many people would lose their jobs and see their borrowing costs rise.

White House officials have previously said they will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling with the far-right Republicans, and administration officials are betting that Republicans will eventually buckle under pressure.



Macron Says Knife Attack in East France Was 'Terrorism'

A police investigator of French forensic police works to collect evidence at the site of a bladed weapon attack where a man is suspected of killing one person and wounding two municipal police officers in Mulhouse, eastern France on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
A police investigator of French forensic police works to collect evidence at the site of a bladed weapon attack where a man is suspected of killing one person and wounding two municipal police officers in Mulhouse, eastern France on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
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Macron Says Knife Attack in East France Was 'Terrorism'

A police investigator of French forensic police works to collect evidence at the site of a bladed weapon attack where a man is suspected of killing one person and wounding two municipal police officers in Mulhouse, eastern France on February 22, 2025. (AFP)
A police investigator of French forensic police works to collect evidence at the site of a bladed weapon attack where a man is suspected of killing one person and wounding two municipal police officers in Mulhouse, eastern France on February 22, 2025. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday a knife attack that killed one and injured three in eastern France on Saturday was "Islamist terrorism", after France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office confirmed it was investigating the case.

A man attacked local police officers in the city of Mulhouse on Saturday afternoon, the PNAT prosecutor's office said in a statement.

A passer-by was killed trying to intervene, while three police officers were injured, the prosecutor's office added.

"It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism," Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the annual French farm show, adding that the interior minister was on his way to Mulhouse.

The suspect has been arrested, the prosecutor's office said.